Sagittarius, the ninth sign of the zodiac, is depicted as an Archer, but the Archer is not an ordinary man drawing a bow. He is a centaur, that mythological creature who is half man and half horse. Sagittarius is the only astrological sign to have both a human and animal representation.

The constellation of Sagittarius, however, is not just any centaur. It is the great and wise Chiron, a son of the titan-god Saturn. Chiron was a friend and confidant of both gods and men. The gods taught Chiron the arts of medicine, hunting and riding, music, and prophecy. In turn, Chiron himself became a renowned teacher. Among his famous pupils were Achilles, Jason, Castor and Pollux, and Hercules.

One day, while the great Hercules was hunting a dangerous boar, he accidentally struck Chiron in the knee with a poisonous shaft. Chiron suffered the agony of dying, but because he was immortal he could not die. Hercules promised to find Death to release him. On his journey Hercules came across poor Prometheus, chained throughout eternity to a rock where an eagle tore at his liver. The supreme god Jupiter had put a curse on Prometheus: his torture would last until someone of his own free will consented to suffer in his place. The dying Chiron took Prometheus’s place. Thus, the curse was fulfilled. Chiron was allowed to die, and Prometheus was set free by Hercules.

After Chiron’s death Jupiter rewarded his noble character by placing the heroic centaur among the stars, and he became the constellation Sagittarius.